Panopticism and Controlling Perceptions of Japanese Internment - On Exhibit: July 17-31, 2017

Flash Exhibit by Rebecca Bucher, Kelly Besser, and Annie Watanabe

When the United States interned Japanese American citizens during World War II, the War Relocation Authority kept strict control over how the camps were portrayed. Photographers were not allowed to capture the guard towers or fences enclosing the camp. These photographs by Ansel Adams depict a carefully managed view of life at Manzanar. Inmates at the camps were generally not allowed cameras but did paint and draw scenes from their daily lives. In this painting, Watchtower, Matsusaburo Hibi depicts what photographers were forbidden to capture.

Watchtower, Topaz.Painting

by Matsusaburo Hibi

Matsusaburo Hibi Papers, Japanese American Research Project (Collection 2010). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library.

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